Laura Nownes

[Nancy R.]

Wendy - Your blocks look great and I absolutely love those colors!

Nancy

[Marianne G.]

Your fabrics are so nice, Wendy. They are soft and mellow but at the same time crisp and fresh.
Margo, thank you very much for your blog post link. Although I read the blog I did not take part in the triangle exchange so must have missed this gold nugget. I quite agree that your posts should go together in the classroom.
All the pin-wheels posted looks so perfect. I tried the method recommended by Laura Nownes yesterday without luck. My sewing machine wishes it could pull its cover over it all by itself because it has been "hacked" and is very ashamed ops: . At the moment it has a biscuit tin attached with masking tape to its extension table so I could get a 4" square lined up. Does anybody know a good shrink for my machine? :lol:
Despite the machine's funny look the way to sew the HSTs worked really well and I like the method; my trouble is that I am absolutely no good at trimming afterwards – even with the seams ironed open. My ruler wobbles, then I wobble and get stressed. I have tried this method before with drawn lines and have had the same problem but I found that the stuck on piece of paper with the seam allowance drawn according to my ruler gives me almost accurate seam allowances – I did not even have to have a seam bumper attached when sewing the patches together I tried the exact same method but cut the squares 3 7/8" and the pin-wheel produced is my first ever perfect aligned one although slightly oversized 6 5/8" but that I can hopefully trim down to 6 ½" without making a pig's ear of it.
Today I will try the paper-pieced version Annis recommended. Seeing Margo's video also made me want to try the blocks without pressing the seams open. I like the way the seams can nestle together when the seams are pressed to one side. Because of the necessity to open the centre with this way of pressing will this be a weaker point in the quilt if it is a bed quilt? Before this sampler I have always pressed seams open and I know that quilted tablemats will disintegrate at the seams just like clothes can do if the seam allowance has been trimmed back and there is strain at the seam. Sorry to maunder on. This project has my head spinning with all sorts of possibilities and problem solving. One problem now is how I am going to change the bobbin without taking the tin off again :?: When I finished all my pin-wheels I will take photographs.
Have a lovely Sunday
Marianne

[wendy w.]

Sounds like you are doing fine, I look forward to seeing your blocks .

You don't need to trim the seam allowance just the size of the blocks. If your block is right then it doesn't matter if your seam allowance went a bit wrong. If your ruler is moving try the little dots you can get to stick on the back to keep it still so you can cut accurately.

You're going to have to take a picture of your sewing machine and tin for us

[Marianne G.]

Sounds like you are doing fine, I look forward to seeing your blocks .

You don't need to trim the seam allowance just the size of the blocks. If your block is right then it doesn't matter if your seam allowance went a bit wrong. If your ruler is moving try the little dots you can get to stick on the back to keep it still so you can cut accurately.

You're going to have to take a picture of your sewing machine and tin for us

Morning, Wendy
I tried putting strips of "steam-a-seam" on the back of my ruler; you know the kind that sticks by itself on both sides with paper. It comes in a role various widths and won't stick permanently until ironed. I think you can get it in big rolls too with paper on both sides but I only have the 1/4" wide stuff. Somebody on one of the shows said that it would work well and it does but not with a seam down the centre. I will look out for the dots when I go shopping on the web. I wish I could go to Birmingham next week so I could see all the goodies available here in UK or maybe it is a good thing for my credit card that I can't :lol:
I will take a picture of the poor machines although it rather reveals what used to be my children's favourite biscuits :P
Marianne

[wendy w.]

These or these ones are the sort of thing I meant.

[Marianne G.]

These or these ones are the sort of thing I meant.

Thank you for the links, Wendy - I have bookmarked them and now I will have to see what else I can buy so I can get free postage - that way I save money, don't I :wink:
Marianne

[Rita C.]

Marianne, there is also 'Invisigrip' which comes in a roll of clear plastic. You cut it approximately 1/4" smaller than your ruler and put it on the back. It works best of all I think for cutting down on the slippage.

[Marianne G.]

Marianne, there is also 'Invisigrip' which comes in a roll of clear plastic. You cut it approximately 1/4" smaller than your ruler and put it on the back. It works best of all I think for cutting down on the slippage.

Hi Rita,
Duckduck'ed "invisigrip" and found several UK suppliers. Great. Thank you; sounds like another great helping hand and, believe me, I need all the hands I can get :P
Marianne

[Marianne G.]

Beautiful Marilyn

Nancy you rebel :lol:

Marilyn, Nice blocks! Wendy, you make me laught. Great way to start my day!

As long as you are not drinking coffee at the same time! :wink: Now where was I in trying to catch up?

[Marianne G.]

One old saying is " what is seen from horseback while galloping by" is perfectly wonderful !! :lol: :lol: :lol:

My Gran always used to say "A blind man on a galloping horse would be pleased to see it"
:lol: :lol:
and My Mum say's "keep moving, and no one will notice" :wink: :lol:

[Marianne G.]

Phew, that was some marathon of catching up

Wendy - Happy Birthday hope it was a good one, and you didn't get too sunburned (or soaked, this is UK after all :wink: )

Marianne, it looks like you are getting along fine - by the way this is what I bodged up to give my machine a larger flat surface
the joints are all re-inforced with newsprint and pva glue (watered down wood glue actually) and it has a complete 'bottom' that the machine sits on, and there are extra support 'beams' inside - it might not be very pretty, but it works just fine. By the way sometimes I press seams open and other times I press both to one side - I too have a dressmaking/tailoring background (Savile Row included) and so totally understand your dilemma about seams. However a bed quilt will just not get the same stresses on the seams as a garment, because apart form anything else, it is reinforced by 2 other layers of fabric/wadding, but I wouldn't trim the seams to less than 1/4" (unless I am having to fudge the seam allowance a bit smaller, to make the front to measure right :wink: )

Better try and get caught up this week, cheerio for now

[Lois B.]

Phew, that was some marathon of catching up

Wendy - Happy Birthday hope it was a good one, and you didn't get too sunburned (or soaked, this is UK after all :wink: )

Marianne, it looks like you are getting along fine - by the way this is what I bodged up to give my machine a larger flat surface
the joints are all re-inforced with newsprint and pva glue (watered down wood glue actually) and it has a complete 'bottom' that the machine sits on, and there are extra support 'beams' inside - it might not be very pretty, but it works just fine. By the way sometimes I press seams open and other times I press both to one side - I too have a dressmaking/tailoring background (Savile Row included) and so totally understand your dilemma about seams. However a bed quilt will just not get the same stresses on the seams as a garment, because apart form anything else, it is reinforced by 2 other layers of fabric/wadding, but I wouldn't trim the seams to less than 1/4" (unless I am having to fudge the seam allowance a bit smaller, to make the front to measure right :wink: )

Better try and get caught up this week, cheerio for now

Glad your back! Welcome home! Love your machine quilting surface. Shall we call you Posey McGyver? I like your ingenuity.

[Rita C.]

Oh I loved McGyver! Wish they would show repeats of that here. Sigh!

[Hannelore N.]

When my lads got a little too old for Dangermouse and Count Duckula, McGyver and The A-Team were the favourites in this house. My older son wanted to be like 'the Faceman', my younger son thought 'Howling Mad Murdock' was the best and I wouldn't have turned down a date with Hannibal Smith. The perfect series for the whole family.

[Marianne G.]

I have now finished my Pin-Wheel blocks and what a mixed bag they are. I have used different fabrics to keep track of how I have made them. The fabrics are from the same fat quarter pack that the 9 Patch fabrics are so they all go together more or less except I have included a Kaffe Fasset remnant as well as some solids obviously. Scrappy springs to mind. I have used 5 different methods included one using starched fabric. I tried the corn flour recipe and I am much happier with that than the ready made from M&S. BTW is it common to get skipped stitches when using starched fabrics?

Rosemary, your machine looks very happy with her extension table! I must admit that my dressmaking skills is to Saville Row standards what MacDonald's is to 5 star Michelin restaurants' standards but I prefer clothes that fit 90% to RTW that only fit 50%
I really look forward to watching the video tomorrow and continue exploring. I did cheat a bit and sneaked a peak in the pdf file so I knew a bit about what strips will be needed to make sure I have some of all the fabrics left for the rest of the blocks. I will also do a bit searching around to see if there are different ways of making the hour glass blocks so I can find what works best for me. I also look forward to watching the show released today. There may be even more tips and tricks for the "TOP" (terrified of points) people within the patchwork community :P
Here's a picture of my blushing sewing machine. I will give it some oil, a new needle and a hoovering so it can start to feel like its old self.

Marianne